Türkiye’s first national female karting racer dominates the tracks

ISTANBUL

Ayşe Çebi, who has become Türkiye's first national female karting driver, is kicking up the dust on the tracks, participating in 20 domestic and international races last year.

Çebi, a 15-year-old high school student, started karting as a hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic. She discovered her potential when she sat behind the wheel of her small racing car and took to the track for the first time.

In 2021, when she participated in the races for the first time, she ranked third in Türkiye in the Junior Category of the Turkish Karting Championship and became the champion in the women's category.

Çebi participated in four domestic and 16 international races last year. In her last race, in which she competed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, she ranked fifth in the general classification of the Senior Category and first in the women's classification.

Participating in the most prestigious races and organizations of the world such as WSK and IAME Italy, Çebi was invited to the OKN World Cup for her outstanding performance, where all 32 drivers she will compete with from around the world are men.

Çebi shared the challenges of being a female karting racer and said, "Other drivers know that you are a woman and can push hard to avoid being overtaken. Of course, this pushes me to go beyond my limits and take more risks."

Contrary to popular belief, in karting, women and men mostly do not compete separately. "Everything is personalized in professional karting because in these races, everyone has to be of equal weight. Additional weights are added to my vehicle to equalize my weight with the male competitors," Çebi shared.